Would It Kill You?
by bugenhagen
Summary: AU. Allison Munroe is perfect. Perfectly boring. What she wants it some adventure. What she wants is a life. What she wants is him. She just doesn't know it yet.
1. Attention, Attention

_Attention, attention, can I have all your eyes and ears to the front of the room if only, if only for one second…_

Alyson Munroe looked over her grades for this quarter and frowned. A after A – you'd think someone would be happy. Most people would. Not Aly. She always got As. Got As without even trying. All she wanted to do was get one B, one small mark to signify that she was not as perfect as everyone wanted her to be.

She had it all. Star of the school play, student body president, top of the class, the perfect Christian boyfriend. She was heading to Yale, no questions asked. If only there was something that excited her.

"Why so glum, babe?" Aly looked up and saw her boyfriend standing in front of her. "All As again," she huffed. He didn't understand it. Why she wanted to fail, or ruin her perfect 4.0 average. She was going places, more than most of the town could say.

"And that's a problem because?" Chaz grinned and kissed her on the forehead. He had the most perfect girlfriend, and that was something he was constantly proud of. Chaz never missed a moment to let everyone know she would be going to Yale - full ride, or that she had won the election with a landslide. She wasn't even sure if he was in love with her or in love with the idea of her.

Aly shrugged. She knew there was no sense in trying to explain it to him, he'd never get it.

"_I want to do something different. Change it up a little bit. One small A minus on my exam isn't going to tarnish my GPA. I want to skip school; I want to cut my hair. I want to get sent to the principal's office. I want to smoke pot. I want to get wasted on a Saturday night."_ Aly wanted all of those things, but she'd never say them out loud.

"I don't know. I just never knew what it felt like to get a bad grade. Not even an A minus," she said as she grabbed her books and slid them into her messenger. None of these things would ever happen because Aly knew she would never give them a chance to.

Chaz took her bag for her and carried it to her car, putting his arm around her shoulder on the way. Once they made it to her car, he put it in her trunk and held her close. "Babe, look. How about instead of studying tonight, we go see a movie. How's that for a change? You never know, all your time not studying could mean you'll end up with an A minus."

Aly couldn't help but smile. "At least he was trying," she mused and stood on her toes, giving him a small peck on the lips. "I doubt it, but sure. There's that new James Franco movie I wanted to see. Pick me up at 8?"

"Eight it is." Chaz leaned forward and gave her a kiss, careful to not let his lips linger for fear of getting written up for PDA. "I'll see you then Aly." With that, Chaz headed towards his car and Ally got into her own. He couldn't even kiss her normally. They were boring.

Alyson sat in the driver's seat, collecting her thoughts when she noticed Lexi leaving with her boyfriend Chad. They were walking hand in hand, oblivious to the world around them. He had his usual smirk on his lips as she told him whatever story she had to share. Once they got to Lexi's car, she watched as Chad brought his hands to the sides of her face and kissed her hard. He didn't seem to care if people were watching, or if they'd get detention for PDA. He pulled away from Lexi and watched as she drove off before turning around and catching Aly watching him. He flashed her his signature smirk and started walking towards her car.

Aly began to panic. She couldn't believe she was staring at them, not to mention got caught staring. The last thing she wanted was for Chad to come over and gloat in her face. Her hands were shaking in embarrassment and she had a hard time getting the key into the ignition. By the time she started her car, she heard the passenger side door open and before she could say anything, Chad was getting in.

"So…like what you saw?" he asked. She wanted herself to say something snarky, to sass him back. But she couldn't. She just wasn't that girl. "

"I-I um. Sorry. I just was sitting down, and then you two were in front of me, and I don't know what I was thinking I'm not like some pervert or anything I'm sorry," she rambled nervously. When he laughed, she figured she'd made a big fool of herself.

"Don't sweat it Munroe. If I had a boyfriend as boring as yours, I'd be watching me too." For some reason, that offended Ally more than anything. It was one thing for her to call her boyfriend boring. It was another for someone else to.

She suddenly lost all sense of nervousness and embarrassment and glared at Chad. And before she could stop it, she found herself giving him a response. "Excuse me? Don't kid yourself. My boyfriend doesn't need to put himself on display to prove anything to anyone. Not so sure if I can say the same about you." Her eyes instantly widened and she brought her hands to her mouth.

"I'm sorry!"

That wasn't like her. She wasn't snarky. She wasn't mean. She was nice to everyone, and everybody's friend. Aly was sure she just made her first enemy.

When she glanced over at Chad, the surprised look on his face was gone and replaced with another smirk. "Don't. I didn't know you had it in you Munroe." And with that he reached for the door and got out of her car.

"I think I like it." Chad slammed her door closed and walked away, leaving Aly to wonder what exactly just happened.

Aly drove straight to her best friend Tawni's house, not bothering to go home first. She was so distracted by what happened earlier that she forgot to let her parents know where she was and at 3:32, she received a phone call from her mom.

"Everything alright kiddo?" her mom asked when she answered the phone. She was two minutes late and already her parents were worried. That's how much she stuck to her routine.

"Oh wow, I'm sorry mom. I'm actually pulling into Tawni's driveway right now. I meant to tell you I was going over there after school," she explained as she shifted gears into park and grabbed her purse.

"Don't worry sweetie, just making sure you're okay. You're always on time, so we were just making sure everything was fine. Are you going to be home in time for dinner?" Aly looked at the clock in her car and figured she could make it by dinner and still go to see the movie.

"Of course! Also, Chaz wanted to take me to a movie tonight. He thinks I need a break from routine. Is that alright?" She rang the doorbell to the Hart's house.

"Not a problem. A little break from routine will suit you well. You only live once Al. Just give me a call if you decide to not come home for dinner. Love you."

Aly said her goodbyes to her mother and walked into the Hart home.

"Sonny! You didn't call before coming. And wait, it's Tuesday, is something wrong?" Tawni said as she let Sonny inside. Sonny never just showed up unannounced, and she never hung out with Tawni on a school night, no matter how much Tawni pleaded. She really was that boring.

"Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to hang out with my – who am I kidding. I need a change Tawni. I just got caught staring at Chad and Lexi while they made out by her car," she groaned and sat down at the kitchen island.

Tawni handed Aly a glass of water and sat across from her, eager to hear the rest of the story. "Wow, it does sound pretty bad. Did they catch you?"

Aly nodded. "Well, Chad did at least. He got into my car, made some comment about understanding why I would because Chaz is boring or something." She frowned and took a sip. "He's not, right?"

Tawni made a face at Aly, causing her to groan inwardly. "He is, isn't he?"

"It's not that he's boring," Tawni started, "it's just that, you two don't do much of anything. I mean, don't get me wrong, anyone would love to have something as stable as you two, but we're only seventeen. You two are practically married."

Aly glanced into her glass and sighed. As much as she hated to hear it, Tawni was right. They were like a married couple. "I don't even know what to do. I just want a change. I got another A. Do you know I've never even gotten so much as an A minus? Or that when I go to the movies, I never get candy? Always popcorn, no salt, a little butter."

"Oh! And in the caf, you always get side salad, no tomatoes, two and a half scoops of dressing, five cubes of ice, a water, and a fruit salad, and you always eat the oranges first, strawberries last, and you always sit down with to the left of me and to the right of Chaz and-" Aly caught Tawni off before she could finish pointing out her daily routine.

"I get it! I'm boring. I need a change," she said, burying her head in her hands. Tawni walked over to her friend and pat her back.

"its okay Al. Lots of people go through life that and don't even want to change. But you're already going to make the first step!" Tawni had enough excitement for the both of them. "I just can't believe Chad got to you that easily. What else did he say?"

Aly immediately broke out into a blush as she thought back to Chad's last statement before leaving the car.

"Oooh you're blushing! Spill!" Tawni gushed.

"I was kind of mean to him. Like really mean," Aly started and scratched her head, confused. "He said he liked it." That part she was confused about. Why would he like that she had been a complete jerk to him?

"He did? Sounds hot." Aly blushed an even deeper shade of red at the thought of her being hot. Tawni took note of this and grabbed her friend's arm. "Can we start tonight? On your whole new you?"

Aly shook her head and looked at her watch. "I'm supposed to be going to a movie with Chaz tonight. He was going to help me break from the routine."

Tawni rolled her eyes. "A movie isn't gonna cut it Al. We're gonna dye your hair tonight. That'll be a start! Now call Chaz, tell him you've got something more important to do."

Aly shook her head furiously. "I'm not telling him that! I'll…just tell him I'm having Tawni time," Aly said as she grabbed her phone to call Chaz.

"That's the spirit. I'll be in my car."

Aly let out a sigh of relief when Chaz didn't answer and left him a voicemail. She couldn't lie to him, so lying to his voicemail was much easier. It was the first time she even did that. After talking herself out of feeling bad, she met Tawni in her car and they headed to the closest pharmacy.

"Alright, I'll just run in and out and we'll do this at your house," Aly said, mostly to herself as she got out of the car.

"I'll be here waiting. Don't rush it. Pick what you feel is right."

Allison headed into the pharmacy and straight to the hair care aisle. She never would've guessed there would be so many to choose from. Finally, she settled on a nice brown, one that was slightly darker than her own natural shade. She was on her way to the register when she felt someone stop her.

"You know, when most people dye their hair, they go for a noticeable difference. You're staying the same." Aly turned around and saw Chad, giving her another one of those smirks.

"This is different," she mumbled, looking down at the package. Who was she trying to fool? Going from brown to brown was not the change Tawni was talking about, that was for sure.

Chad tossed a box of black hair dye towards Allison and she caught it, dropping the brown one in the process. "I think this will suit you," he said, raising a brow. "Maybe even make you look a little less wide-eyed and innocent. Maybe."

Aly pictured herself with black hair; it was certainly a change. But it wasn't too drastic, she wasn't suddenly becoming a blonde or anything. She could do black.

"Thanks…I think I might." She said and looked at Chad's items. Iced tea, twizzlers, and tampons. Tampons?

"Lexi needed me to pick these up for her. I've got no shame. It's not like anyone's going to think these are for me," he explained as he waited in line behind her. He was right, no one would.

"What a nice boyfriend. Chaz would never even be caught dead standing next to me if I were buying any," she said with an eye roll.

"Good thing I'm not Chaz then. So what's with the hair dye? Sonny not feeling so Sonny?"

Aly was a bit confused by the nickname, wondering where he got Sonny from. She must've had a look on her face because he quickly explained.

"Sonny, Allison. Aly Sonny. Plus you're always so perky."

Aly took a step forward and smiled. Sonny. She kind of liked it. It suited her well – well she wasn't so sure how much it would with her black hair, but it was still nice to actually have a cool nickname.

"Change. I just wanted to do something not boring. A little daring," she explained, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Today hair dye, tomorrow the world," he joked and headed over to his cashier to pay for his items. Aly did the same at her line and couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Something like that. Thanks, by the way. I think black will look good on me." She grabbed her bags and walked out of the store, heading back to Tawni's car.

"I know it will," he said with a wink, and with that, he rolled off on his longboard, back to Lexi's house. Aly blushed once more and got into Tawni's car, completely consumed with thoughts of another encounter with Chad.

"Let's do this girl!"


	2. Time To Pretend

**So I just wanna say how excited I was to see those reviews! I wasn't expecting it at all. Thank you guys for liking it, I'll try to keep the updates semi regular! Thanks so much again!**

_Forget about our lovers and our friends. We're fated to pretend._

Aly woke up the next morning a bit disoriented. She went to bed a bit later than normal; after getting home, her parents praised her change in hair color and she spent a few hours trying to decide on what to wear with her new hair.

"My hair!" she squealed as she remembered what she had done the day before. She ran over to the mirror and combed it out, letting it sink in. She had done something, completely on a whim for the first time in her life. It felt amazing.

"Aly, can I come in?" Connie, her mother called from the hallway. "Yeah, I'm just in my closet!" she called back as she searched for something to wear – yet again. After a few moments, she emerged from her closet, wearing a floral dress. Almost her entire wardrobe was dresses and skirts, and she wasn't sure how they would look against her new hair.

"You look amazing Sonny," Connie said, using her new nickname. So Allison may have mentioned her encounters with Chad.

"Sonny. I like it. He's right, it does suit me well," she said, blushing as she slipped on a pair of flats. Connie grabbed a comb and began to tousle her daughter's wavy hair. "You look beautiful Sonny. I love the new hair on you. Really. And if Chaz doesn't like it, well, that's too bad." Aly looked up at her mother, silently thanking her for the reassurance. That was her biggest worry more than anything, that Chaz wouldn't approve.

Allison took once last look in the mirror before grabbing her things and heading downstairs. "Sonny. I'm going to go by Sonny. Say bye to boring Aly," she said at the breakfast table as she devoured a strip of bacon. Normally she would go for a banana, slice of toast, half a grapefruit, and a glass of milk but today, she was fully ready to begin her new change.

"Atta girl Sonny," her dad said, ruffling her hair as he stole some of her bacon from her plate and handed her a cup of coffee. "Go big or go home!"

Connie rolled her eyes at her husband trying to be cool. "Sonny, you just do it one step at a time. And remember, there was nothing wrong with the old you. I knew this girl was in you, deep down somewhere. Just think of it as letting the real you shine," she said, kissing Sonny on the forehead. Sonny smiled and glanced down at her phone as she received a text from Tawni.

**text: how are you holding up?**

**text: as ready as I'll ever be. See you in first girl :-)))**

"That was Tawni, gotta run. Don't wanna be late!" Sonny said and grabbed a banana as she was leaving. She glanced at the clock on the way out and realized she was already five minutes behind schedule, which meant she would be five minutes late to being early. She was only going to have ten minutes before first period. Sonny had never had that little time before school, but oddly enough, she didn't seem to care.

For the first time in ages, she let the top down of her VW Bug convertible and sang along with her music. Who would've known a little hair dye would give her the boost she needed to feel better about her life. She took another sip from her coffee as she waited for the light to change, soaking in the morning air. It was one of those perfect mornings in California, where you could fool yourself into believing life was perfect.

When she pulled up to her parking spot, a confused and worried Chaz snapped her back into reality.

"Oh thank god! I was beginning to worry!" he said as he came over to the car. Sonny glanced at the time, she was still only five minutes late. The more people freaked out over her change in schedule, the more she felt like a change had to happen. She was too predictable. As he went to her trunk to grab her backpack, she let the top back up, rolling her eyes at how routine everything still was. He was so focused on getting her things that he hadn't even noticed her change.

Chaz managed to grab her things and open the door for Sonny before she could even gather everything in her purse. "Was everything okay this morning? I don't think I've ever seen you this late," he said, helping her out of the car. She nodded and dug around her purse, fishing for her cell phone.

"You sure, I mean, you cancelled on me last night, and now you're late. Are you sure you're not sick?" he asked again, causing her to frown further. It was sweet that he was worried, really, but he still hadn't said one thing about her hair. Right as she opened her mouth to speak, she caught sight of Chad on his longboard with Lexi pushing him through the parking lot. They were both laughing hysterically as she steered him through the crowds, completely in tune with each other. Sonny wanted that.

"Sonny? Yoo-hoo," Chaz said, waving his hand in front of her face. She wasn't even aware that she had zoned out. "Sorry, what was that?" she asked, giving him her full attention. "I was just pointing out that- hey! Watch where you're going Cooper!" Chaz yelled as Chad bumped into him.

"Sorry dude, blame the lady. She steered me in the wrong direction," Chad said, shrugging. Sonny glanced at him and Lexi, offering them both a small smile. She couldn't help but notice Chad giving her a once over, earning a blush on her end. "Looks like I was right. Black does suit you Sonny. Didn't think you'd go through with it, but I'm glad you did," he said, giving her a genuine smile of his own. To anyone else, it looked like Chad was just paying his friend a compliment on her change, but Sonny couldn't help but wonder if there was any hidden meaning behind it. She felt like there was hidden meaning in everything he said to her.

Chaz looked at Chad, completely confused. He had no idea who Sonny was, and why he was talking about Aly and her hair. And as they stood there, side by side, Sonny couldn't help but notice their similarities. Chad's mouth seemed to be forever fixed into a smirk and Chaz's eyes were softer, more innocent. Chad's hair was short, where Chaz looked like he was pulling a Bieber. Chad had a bit of an edge though, something Chaz could never have, no matter how hard he tried. Not a hair was out of place on Chaz's head and Chad perfected the uncaring look.

"Problem bro?" Chad asked, smirking. Sonny rolled her eyes and pushed Chad out of the way, breaking up the argument before it could start. "That's enough Cooper." Chad looked back at Sonny, giving her another smile and put his arm around Lexi's shoulders. "Yeah you're probably right. Catch you later Sonny," he said and they headed towards their first period. Lexi offered Sonny a sympathetic smile before joining her boyfriend in their walk to class.

"Why does Cooper keep calling you Sonny?" Chaz asked once they were alone again. Still nothing about her new looks. Sonny put her bag on her shoulders and began walking to her own first period. "He said it suits me. And Sonny, Allison. Makes sense I guess," she shrugged as they continued walking. They had made it all the way to first period before he noticed her hair color and she was beginning to get frustrated with Chaz.

"When did you do this?" he asked. Not the way she pictured it to go. "Last night. I decided I needed a change. I told you I did," she said, frowning. He tugged at her hair, not believing that it was real. "Yes, I really dyed my hair," she said dryly.

Chaz stopped dead in his tracks. He was not a fan of her black hair. "Why? Brown hair and brown eyes were working for you. Now you just look like a creepy goth kid. Not my beautiful Aly," he ranted. Sonny felt tears stinging her eyes, she never imagined his reaction to go like this.

"And then you tell Chad Dylan Cooper first? The kid that tries so hard to be me?" Sonny couldn't take any more of it. She turned on her heel and walked into her class – he couldn't argue with her in there. He was forced to be cordial in front of their classmates and teacher. Sonny made sure she would be in class after the bell rang so she wouldn't have to deal with Chaz any longer.

She made it to lunch time without running into him. "Aly, can I apologize?" Chaz said, sitting down next to her in the cafeteria. She moved her fries around her plate and sighed. "I overreacted. Your hair looks amazing on you. I think I was just didn't think you'd go through with it. And Chad using pet names for you, I got jealous. I never meant to hurt you," he said, stroking her cheek. Sonny looked down at her food and sighed. It was their first fight, and although she was changed on the outside, she knew she would forgive him. She was still Aly on the inside.

"It's okay," she said, forcing a smile for him. Chaz kissed his girlfriend softly, glad that their first fight was over as quickly as it started. Sonny couldn't believe Chaz was kissing her in the cafeteria. He has never been one for PDA. Ever. When he pulled away, Sonny caught Chad staring at them, smirking as usual. She ducked her head down in shame and went back to eating her fries.

In her last class, Chad decided to move from his usual seat by the window to right next to Sonny. "Thought Looper didn't need to show everyone how much of a man he was," he said smugly. Sonny sighed at his accusation. He was probably right, Chaz probably only kissed her because Chad could see. He was marking his territory so to speak.

"We've never fought before today," she admitted. "It's weird, I know, how can two people date for four years without fighting." Because they were boring. Everyone knew that.

"You guys are a little boring. I bet you guys have sex with the lights off," he joked only loud enough for her to hear. By the look on her face, he could tell they had never even done that. "What? You two haven't even done that?" Sonny shook her head furiously, hoping he'd end the embarrassing conversation.

"Say no more. Secret's safe with me. But come on, do you guys do anything fun?" Chad asked. Sonny looked over her notes for the day and frowned. They really didn't. They did the same thing every weekend. Dinner and a movie. Sometimes the movie would be at one of their houses. They never partied or broke from routine. She gave him a small frown and continued working on her classwork.

"How about today, you come hang out with me and Lex. Have some real fun. Stay out all day. What do you think?" Sonny mulled it over. She had always wondered what it would be like to hang out with them. They just seemed so carefree. "Yeah. I will," she replied before she could second guess herself. The smile Chad gave her was worth it. "Awesome! Lex and I will meet you in the parking lot after school." As the bell rang, Chad grabbed his things and left the room. "See you in a bit."

Sonny carefully placed everything back into her bag, distracting herself from the nervous feeling she got in the pit of her stomach. She was afraid of making a fool of herself around them. "What's Chad talking about, see you in a bit?" Chaz said, walking into the room.

"Oh, he invited me to spend the afternoon with him and Lexi. Shake things up a bit in my monotonous life," she said, smiling. "Oh, I was gonna see if you wanted to get something to eat, but we could go with Chad and Lexi! That'd be fun," he said as he grabbed her bag. She took it back from him and stood up straight. "I'm not sure if that'd be okay; I mean you two did get into a fight earlier. I think it just being us will be fine." Sonny started walking towards the parking lot, not bothering to wait for a response from Chaz. She was still a little bothered by the fight they got into that morning.

"I…fine. Have fun Al and call me later?" Sonny nodded and found Lexi and Chad waiting by her car.

"Sonny! You made it! Chad told me you're looking to have a good time!" Lexi said, giving her new friend a hug. Sonny nodded, brushing her hair behind her ears and looked over to Chad who just shrugged. "Yeah, just wanting to try something new for a change." Lexi seemed nice, so Sonny was excited to see what was in store for her.

"I'm thinking the beach, what about you Chad? Think we can show Sonny our spot?" Lexi asked, glancing at her boyfriend. Chad looked at Sonny and smirked. "If she's willing, I'm willing. Though, I can't make this decision, seeing as I long boarded my way to school today," he laughed as he held his board up.

"Oh, don't sweat it, I can drive. It's the least I can do for you guys showing me a good time," Sonny said and pulled out her car keys. "Awesome dude. I call shotty!" Chad said and skated off towards Sonny's car, leaving Lexi and Sonny to chase after him.


End file.
